Realization of Huge Dream

Dongkuk Steel Chairman Chang finally sees steel plant built in Brazil, as his late father had wished

Dongkuk Steel finally launched its dream project to build an integrated steel mill with a blast furnace in Brazil capable of producing 3 million tons of steel annually in the first stage of the project and then another 3 million tons of production capacity in the second stage, Dongkuk Steel said.
Chairman Chang Sae-joo flew to Ceara State in Brazil where the plant is to be built by 2015 and attended a ceremony on Aug. 11 to dedicate the multipurpose wharf for the projected steel plant named after the penname of his late father Chang Sang-tae, Cais Song-Won, and the conveyor belt from the wharf to the steel mill along with local dignitaries led by President Dilma Rousseff of Brazil and officials of Ceara State and executives of Dongkuk Steel and its partners in the project including POSCO and Vale, the Brazilian mining company that will supply iron ore to the new steel plant.
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff at the ceremony promised the federal government's support to the projected steel plant until it is completed as planned, which is being built under the control of Korean steelmaker POSCO, the fifth largest in the world in terms of steel output, and will provide various technologies and construction knowhow for the new steel plant.
Chairman Chang said in his speech, We worked for the past 10 years to prepare for the construction of the projected steel plant in the Pecem Industrial Complex in Ceara State, and as the project is being jointly undertaken by Vale, the world's leading iron ore mining company, and POSCO, the fifth largest steelmaker in the world, it will undoubtedly be a great success when it is completed in 2015 and begins turning out steel slabs. He continued, Both Dongkuk and POSCO will work together to create a steel bridge that connects Korea and Brazil, falling back on their histories of creating a miracle in the development of the steel industry in Korea. Chairman Murillo Ferreira of Vale Co. said in his speech that his company will support the growth of the economy of Ceara State and the steel industry by supplying top quality iron ore to the new steel plant. Managing Director Park Ki-hong of POSCO, on behalf of Chairman Chung Joon-yang, said CSP, which is the benefactor of Vale, the world's largest iron ore mining company, Dongkuk Steel, which has long been producing steel slab, and POSCO, with abundant knowledge in the operation of steel plants and a large pool of steelmaking technology, would be an ideal joint-venture steelmaker.
The projected steel plant is the dream of the late chairman Chang Sang-tae, the father of Chairman Chang, who took over the helm of the steelmaker in 1983 from his late father Kyung-ho. He wanted to build a steel plant in Brazil while he was running Dongkuk Steel and his son, the current chairman, swore to realize his late father's dream when he became the CEO in 2001. He has worked on the project for the past 10 years and is about to realize the dream, now that the groundwork for the steel plant has been in progress since the end of 2010.
Vale will hold a 50 percent stake in the steel mill with POSCO sharing 20 percent and Dongkuk Steel 30 percent. nw

Chairman Chang Sae-joo of Dongkuk Steel Co., left, shakes hands with President Dilma Rousseff of Brazil during a dedication ceremony on Aug. 11 for the wharf Cais Song-Won, named after the chairman's late father's penname near from where the projected steel plant is being built in Ceara State in Brazil.

Dignitaries led by Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, Gov. Cid Ferreira Gomes of Ceara State, Brazil and Chairman Chang Sae-joo of Dongkuk Steel, executives of Vale Co. and POSCO pose for a photo with key officials engaged in the construction of the projected steel plant during the dedication ceremony on Aug. 11 for the wharf Cais Song-Won near the Pecem Industrial Complex where the projected steel plant is being built.

Photo on Courtesy of Dongkuk Steel